Tech:NYC Digest: March 18

Tech:NYC Digest: March 18

March 18, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Friday, March 18, 2022 

Happy Friday! Read this, then get out there and enjoy the weather! ☀️ In today's digest, 20 million more free COVID-19 tests come to New York, NYC Half Marathon returns on Sunday, and Credit Karma chief people officer Colleen McCreary on achieving pay equity.

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By the numbers:  

  • New positive cases statewide: 2,089 

    • New positive cases, NYC: 802

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 1.3 percent (no change)

  • NYC Hospitalizations: 322 (-11)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress: 

    • New Yorkers with at least one dose: 89.3 percent

    • New Yorkers who are fully vaccinated: 75.9 percent

In today’s latest:

  • Moderna is seeking FDA authorization for a second booster shot for all adults, significantly broader than Pfizer’s recent request for authorization of a second booster shot only for those 65 and older. (Washington Post)

  • More than 20 million COVID-19 tests will be distributed across the state this spring to bolster ongoing preparedness efforts, with almost two million of those allocated to NYCHA residents. (CBS News)

  • The MTA expects to receive federal approval of its congestion pricing plan for drivers south of 60th Street in Manhattan by the end of the year, with fees to be implemented by the end of 2023. (Gothamist)

  • The 2022 NYC Half Marathon returns this Sunday, winding through Prospect Park, across the Manhattan Bridge, and up to Central Park. Here’s the course map to help you anticipate traffic or street access changes.

In other reading:

  • Shrugs Over the Flu Signal Attitudes About COVID (New York Times)

  • 6 Things We’ll Keep From Pandemic Life (New York Times)

  • Remembering Chowhound, an Early Online Food Forum for NYC’s Restaurant Obsessives (Eater NY)

  • Some Humble Suggestions for Mayor Eric Adams’ Next TikTok (The Cut)

At Credit Karma, executives are sure there’s no gender pay gap. That’s due to the company’s pay equity program, a salary model designed to correct for occupational sorting, and a compensation system overhaul resulting in raises for 98 percent of employees. (Protocol)

Colleen McCreary, Credit Karma’s chief people officer, said the inflation rate in the US has reached a four-decade high and is yet another variable tech companies have to consider when structuring their salary levels and compensation packages.

  • According to new data commissioned by the company, perhaps unsurprisingly, two-thirds of American workers feel that their pay isn’t adequate to cover rising inflation costs.

The data notes that while more than 70 percent of Americans say it’s important for their employer to prioritize pay equity, many are skeptical about employers' ability to close pay gaps. 15 percent say they don’t believe the gender pay gap will improve over the next decade.

  • “​​Inflation and compensation are not as closely linked as one would think. However, the impact of inflation on consumers’ finances emphasizes the pay inequities that exist within the American workforce, said McCreary.

In return-to-office updates:

  • JP Morgan Chase will discontinue its mask mandate for both vaccinated and unvaccinated employees in the office, and will resume hiring unvaccinated individuals beginning April 4. NYC employees, however, must continue to meet vaccination requirements due to the citywide mandate. Free at-home testing kits will still be provided. (Reuters)

  • Sweetgreen is reestablishing its lunch delivery program for office buildings, with more than 25 delivery stations resuming or starting operations in the last two weeks. (Wall Street Journal)

In other reading:

  • Many Introverts Dread the Office Return. Some Also Can't Wait. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Part-Time Retirement Programs Are on the Rise (Wall Street Journal)

  • Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon: Will smart glasses, holograms, and AI-equipped robots change our jobs? (Washington Post)

  • Arcol, a NYC-based browser tool for collaborative building design, raised $3.6 million in seed funding. Cowboy Ventures led the round and was joined by a group of individuals including Figma CEO Dylan Field and Not Boring founder Packy McCormick. (TechCrunch)

  • Chestnut Carbon, a NYC and Denver-based startup focused on generating carbon-offset credits from forests, secured up to $200 million in financing. Kimmeridge Energy Management led the round. (Wall Street Journal)

  • Staffbase, a NYC and Munich-based employee communications management platform, raised $115 million in Series E funding at a $1.1 billion valuation. General Atlantic led the round and was joined by Insight Partners. (TechCrunch)

  • March 21: Virtual: Your NYC Rent Questions, Answered, with Mobilization for Justice managing attorney Leah Goodridge, Legal Aid Society’ director for housing Nakeeb Siddique, and others. Hosted by THE CITY. Register here.

  • March 21: Virtual: #newtovc: Developing Your Fund Thesis, with Union Square Ventures partner Brad Burnham and Brooklyn Bridge Ventures founder Charlie O’Donnell. Hosted by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. Register here.

  • March 22 – 23: Virtual: Bloomberg Equality Summit, with Meta vice president for civil rights Roy L. Austin, Jr., Microsoft corporate vice president Sarah Bond, NYSE chair Commissioner Sharon Bowen, and others. Hosted by Bloomberg. Register here. 

  • March 31: Virtual: The Future of NYC: Charting an Equitable Recovery for All, with Federal Reserve Bank of New York president and CEO John C. Williams, BlocPower founder and CEO Donnel Baird, Regional Plan Association president and CEO Tom Wright, and more. Hosted by the New York Fed. Register here.

  • April 6: Virtual: Data Science Day 2022, with White House Director of Science and Technology Policy Alondra Nelson and IBM Research AI vice president Sriram Raghavan. Hosted by the Data Science Institute at Columbia University. Register here.

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